5 man IF

johnsonrod

Starting Player
i played on a utrip E team this past weekend, we tried out the 5 man IF even though we didnt have the P or the fielders to "pull it off" and only a few ppl have ever heard of it let alone seen it and it went surprisingly well.

any mens team who has skilled fielders should absolutely use it.

thats all.
 

coolluvr4u1976

#1 bomb dropper
Ummmmmmm FYI!!!! be prepared to duck from all the incomming bashing....... the 5man infield isnt anything new... and yes GOOD teams run the 5man 100% of the time.....
 

35eruss

Reloaded
My team runs a 5 man and most of the teams we play. Yes you have to have a fast outfield to do so. That is one reason we can do this. My outfield is fast.
 

coolluvr4u1976

#1 bomb dropper
Nice post. You need a fast OF more than anything to do this.

Fud.....

I wouldnt say you need "fast" outfielders, the biggest thing I've seen with running a 5man infield is your infielders need to stop the ball!!!!! and the outfielders need to be able to judge/read the ball comming off the bat well so they can get a jump on the ball.... and they cant let a ball get under/past thier glove..

yes if you have fast outfielders that helps...... But if your infielders cant catch a cold, then your outfielders will be running thier ass off and be tired when teams start to hit the ball in the gaps.
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
Ummmmmmm FYI!!!! be prepared to duck from all the incomming bashing....... the 5man infield isnt anything new... and yes GOOD teams run the 5man 100% of the time.....

there were 3 or 4 D teams and 4 or 5 E teams at this tourny and i only noticed 1 other team running a 5 man.

any what did i say that would warrant bashing???? i said i think 5 man is a very good idea and that teams should use it
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
Fud.....

I wouldnt say you need "fast" outfielders, the biggest thing I've seen with running a 5man infield is your infielders need to stop the ball!!!!! and the outfielders need to be able to judge/read the ball comming off the bat well so they can get a jump on the ball.... and they cant let a ball get under/past thier glove..

yes if you have fast outfielders that helps...... But if your infielders cant catch a cold, then your outfielders will be running thier ass off and be tired when teams start to hit the ball in the gaps.

true, that was our biggest problem, we only had a few real IFers and the rest were OF converts. i think we turned 2 DP/game but it could have easily been 3-4 if there were better IF defense.
 

Fudbelty

I Invented the Budle Play
We are 80 something games into the year and haven't played five man for one inning I think.
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
We run a 5-man 90% of the time...It definitely works with the right personnel

at what point in time do you switch to "normal" defense?

in one game in the 5th inning the team started pelting line drives to the OF, so we switched to normal defense and it seemed to be effective then
 

chiefgator

Crafty Veteran
What do you mean "a P that can pull it off"?

The P as a defender is much more important in a traditional defense.
A lot of teams will go to a 5man if their P has no glove.
 

eHall

Base burglar
5 man is nothing new. It's used by every c and up team out there. If you have the personnel, use it.
 

riotact

don't pitch, learn to hit
The most important thing for your outfield more than anything is, they absolutely most get the ball into 2B quickly to keep the force in order. 5 man is so supreme when you have a force at 2B. If you have a bunch of "double throwers" in the outfield, it's going to hurt you bigtime.

I know everyone says your outfield should be fast, but it should be fast in 4man as well....
 

coolluvr4u1976

#1 bomb dropper
Johnson, I just ment some people like to " bash " cuz its basically a repeat of old topics and some of the Regulars could start bashing.... but not everyone plays a 5man infield..... most people know its a good idea to run a 5man if you have the people to do it..... But it doesnt always work lol..... my NSA "E" team that i played with last year tried running it for a few tournys and it just killed us cuz our infielders would miss easy balls and such,,,, Our best tournys seemed to come when we ran a normal 4man outfield...

Now as to when do you switch back..... thats tough to say..... i would say it depends on the team your playing against.... are they doing nothing but killin the gaps??? then possibly.... another thing is, you need a pitcher who can pitch towards the strong side....

the thing i kinda noticed too is some teams get a bit flustered(sp) when a team is playing a normal 4man outfield, cuz they are so usta hitting against a 5man infield, and hitting the gaps... that when they do try to hit the ball down, they hit it right to the infielders.... Ideally the 5man was brought about because of homerun limits and getting teams to hit the ball in the air.. for the possiblity of a DBO.
 

country7

Addicted to Softballfans
wrong, it has nothing to do with a pitcher not being able to field, its about taking away the holes and trying to make teams put it in the air and hit gaps. A good pitcher will be a 6th defender on the infield, and it works best with a pitcher who knows how to pitch to the 5man
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
generally B level players almost all of them run a 5 man. As far a E i seen it once against us.after that im sure that was the last time they did that. As a team we will do it sometimes to throw a team off but its not our regular.but we got lighting fast outfielders.you got to.not just fast guys you need really fast guys
 

Fro Joe

Snowden is a hero.
generally B level players almost all of them run a 5 man. As far a E i seen it once against us.after that im sure that was the last time they did that. As a team we will do it sometimes to throw a team off but its not our regular.but we got lighting fast outfielders.you got to.not just fast guys you need really fast guys

It almost seems to be a regional thing in lower levels. I'm in the STL area and nearly every single E team used it last year. When we went to state and supers a lot of teams ran 4 man. This year I'm playing D out of Illinois and a lot of the D teams I've faced still seem to run 4 man. In STL 5man is universal in D.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
wow i wish i was in st louis right now. that would be softball heaven. I would be a softball legend with the 5 man in E
 

coolluvr4u1976

#1 bomb dropper
On a personal note,, when i pitch, i actually prefer to play a normal 4 man infield, cuz i dont mind taking shots back up the middle... I generally back up anyways to prepare for a shot back up the middle.
 

Fro Joe

Snowden is a hero.
wow i wish i was in st louis right now. that would be softball heaven. I would be a softball legend with the 5 man in E
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be sarcastic or not, but St. Louis had some E teams last year that were WAY too good to be playing E.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
thats how my pitcher is.he dont care shoot middle if you gotta. or pitch outside to a leftys. its great.you gotta have a good pitcher regardless.but yea especially in a 5 man. So you can have more pop ups
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
im being serious. one team tried that on us and that was the last we play a fun tourney every year. you dont get points or nothin im not on a tourney team my friends are and some that play with me. But they tried that first game was at 8 am.they ran all over the damn place left field fence then right field fence..i mean you would of laughed i was tired too and pissed i felt they were disrespecting us

By doing a 5 man first game and i had to get up early. your gonna pay. we whooped um and picked up there best guy for our next game they had like a 4 hours gap before theres. no rosters were turned in till 2nd game so we were good.
 

Long Bombers 7

LB7 a One Man Wolf Pack
three quick outfielders that player well together....need a pitcher that pitches to its defensive's strengths...keep the ball in or out depending on where his 5 man is set up ...

we turn tons of DP's...we got a great middle and short stop that work well with each other, know who has the bag, and who has cuts...


5 man will keep, or should keep hitters out of the middle.....takes away gap's through infield, and makes hitters hit gap in outfield..can be very effective if ran right....we play 5 man every game....only time we switch back is if they are hitting gaps and getting extra bases....
 

ns09

Addicted to Softballfans
whose suppose to take cuts, and cover the bag on a 5 man when ball goes to the OF?
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
well my one guy was a right handed batter only hits right field..weird.hits homers and everything i got another guy we call him automatic left hander but usually on first pitch will hit over the first basemans head to mess them up then go left.you gotta have placement hitters not allstars but you can easily destroy a 5 man. i would say 6 or 7 of my guys can hit it out at anytime soo
 
Top